The Hammer Hong Kong has a rock-solid lineup

Jelle van Es

7 October 2018

Now that the UCI World Championships are behind us, and there are only a few UCI World Tour races ahead, the 2018 season is coming to an end. The Tour of Lombardy, on the 13th of October, is set to be the icing on the cake of this awesome bike racing year. But we also have a big Hammer race on the horizon to look forward to. After the previous instalments of the Hammer Series—in Stavanger, Norway, and Limburg, the Netherlands—there will be another race in the Hammer Series: the Hammer Hong Kong. And when you see the line-up of cyclists competing, it is clear that the teams take the Hammer Hong Kong very seriously.

Racing action in Hong Kong

As with the other Hammer events there are different disciplines—the Hammer Sprint and the Hammer Chase—but where the other events take place over several days, the Hammer Hong Kong has to be completed in one day. In the Hammer Sprint, an (intermediate) sprint is held at a fixed spot on the course, where riders can win points for the team. For the Hammer Chase, it is all about a team time trial. The teams are divided by the results of the sprint discipline, and the rest of the race is left for catching up. At the end of the race, times are aggregated to determine who will be the champion of this three-edition Hammer series. Still confused? Here’s our explainer.

Mitchelton-SCOTT currently has the best performance scores, but we expect a good challenge from the Quick-Step Floors and BMC Racing Team. And if you look at the above-mentioned line-up, it’s quite impressive how many big names are racing this late in the season. Tom Dumoulin is really excited about the racing, according to the Hammer Race Hong Kong website. Some other big names of those participating are Dylan Groenewegen, Philippe Gilbert, Matteo Trentin, Sep Vanmarcke and Richie Porte. The event will be held on the 14th of October.

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